Tour de Gulch History

Tour de Gulch History
The Tour de Gulch started in 1997 and involved approximately a dozen riders, including myself, my daughter’s boyfriend and some Les Schwab buddies, a few kids from R.A. Long High School, and my friends Mike Patterson and Jeff Lipton.

The initial ride was a 25-miler to the end of Abernathy Ridge and back. All of it on gravel. This was because we had no single-track at Growlers Gulch in 1997. The following year was also a gravel ride.In 1999, we celebrated our first piece of single-track, and we’ve made constant additions each year since then. Our system now totals more than 30 miles and offers incredible variety.

Thirteen years after that first event, Jeff Lipton and I are the only riders to have completed every TDG – and if Lipton had fallen a little harder in 2003 (see below), I would be the only one.

For the moment, we have no plans to discontinue the event. My goal is to ride in a TDG with my grandsons, who are now seven, five, four and three. That should keep me going into my 70s and keep you going until at least 2020.

Special Moments in TDG History

• 1999 – In the middle of the post-ride party, we receive a call that our daughter in Seattle is undergoing emergency surgery. Sher and I exit in a rush, leaving the TDG riders to clean up and lock the doors when they exit.
• 2000 – Carla Mitchem fails to heed the warning to “Stay left” on a nasty double-track downhill. She takes the right line, plants her front tire at the bottom of a drop, and goes over the bars. Major bruising results. The good news – she manages to stay for the entire post-ride party.
• 2001 – Three riders from Portland show up unannounced, pronouncing themselves fit and experienced. After traversing the incredibly benign Melton Trail, one announces, “That’s the most technical and dangerous thing I’ve ever ridden.” After one of them sustains a bad fall, they turn back without having attempted any of the more sporting trails, thus saving us the need to call Life Flight for emergency extraction.
• 2002 – The intrepid Roger fails to heed directions. Instead of sticking with someone who knows the trail system, he simply heads up the gravel and begins looking for single-track. He returns four hours later without having ridden a foot of trail. By unanimous vote of the TDG Board of Directors, his invitation is permanently and immediately revoked.
• 2003 – Jeff Lipton crashes and burns going down the driveway at the start of the Tour. At less than six seconds into the ride, this remains the earliest wreck in TDG history.
• 2004 – A rider we know only as “Bill” shows up unexpectedly. He knows nothing about the ride and mistakenly falls in with the Perpetual Motion group. Their goal – ride four hours at a snappy pace without stopping. To Bill’s credit, he survives for more than two hours before hurling. He has never returned.
• 2005 – Andy “Egg McMuffin” Crump stops in Kelso for a late breakfast on the way to the Tour. The Egg McMuffin leaves him only moments after the ride begins, leading his brother to remark, “You should ask for your money back, Andy. You didn’t have that thing long enough to have to pay for it.”
• 2007 – Light rain fails to dampen spirits, though one couple from PDX drove all the way to CR, announced that they didn’t like riding with wet saddles, packed up and headed for home. Ride leader Lance Brigman demoralizes Portland’s famed Killer Burritos by forcing them to climb the nasty 313 hill “just because they needed to.”
• 2008 – While riding with Jack Berry and the Crank Turners, Brandon Lockwood of Tacoma veers off the Beaver Pond Trail and crashes. As he lays on the ground, the rest of the group gives him a glance, says nothing, and rides right past. Welcome to Growlers!
• 2009 - After their experience with Brigman in 2007, the Killer Burritos request a new ride leader. Dave volunteers; he cuts them no slack. Having honed their technical skills at Forest Park, the Burritos experience destruction on Mr. Rogers, Creation and Donkey Punch.

Takin’ you back to 2008: